


The Long Day

by historicallyredacted (lockandkey)



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canonical Character Death, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Magic, Multi, Polyamory, Post-Canon, Series Spoilers, Threesome - F/M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-21
Updated: 2015-07-31
Packaged: 2018-03-02 16:40:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2819024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lockandkey/pseuds/historicallyredacted
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Post BOO)<br/>Leo and Calypso are leaving Ogygia, when an unseen force pulls Leo from Festus' back. He falls back to Ogygia, alone. He's meant to carry out Calypso's punishment, but he's determined to find his own way off the hidden island.<br/>At the same time, Calypso turns to Camp Half Blood, and their Roman counterparts, for assistance.<br/>It'll take time, ingenuity, luck, and magic to save him.<br/>Things become more dire when Leo's visited by ghosts during his entrapment, and something is beginning to seem very wrong in the underworld..and he can't really tell anyone about it until he gets off the island.<br/>And, that's really just the beginning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Long Fall Back

**Author's Note:**

> This is post Blood of Olympus, and ...fairly canon, as much to what I remember of PJO and HOO anyway.  
> The less canon aspects will be...Calypso and Leo is just not happening for me. I love them as a strong platonic relationship based on mutual understanding, but I was not a fan of the romance the way it was written. So...that is obviously going to be reflected..pretty quickly.
> 
> I'm trying to keep a bit of the feel of PJO series, and while I will most certainly fail spectacularly...here is at least my attempt.
> 
> I am still just....really not used to publishing on ao3.

  
Leo enjoyed the glimpses he took of Calypso surveying the skies around them, while Ogygia was below them, she didn't so much as look back. She was looking forward, putting the past behind her. Below her.  
He could appreciate the sentiment. Though from his own experience, no matter how far you ran, history had a way of catching up to you.

Maybe it'd be different now, with Gaea deep in slumber again.

Leo hoped she was anyway, not wanting to even think about what would have happened at Camp if he hadn't been successful in his plan to take down the earth mother. He needed to get back to camp, and really wished Festus was in good enough condition that a pit stop would be unneeded.  
Their detour to Ogygia hadn't been intentional, to say the least.  
He had, of course, always intended to go back for Calypso, but Leo had no way of knowing if he'd actually come back to life...and where he would at that. No, if he had wanted to be blasted all the way to No Mans Land (fairly literally), Leo would have at the very least told Frank and Hazel when he explained the rest of his idea.

They must think I'm dead, Leo thought. 

Some part of him, the part of him that felt alone and unneeded, wanted the acknowledgment that his death meant something to his friends. He felt disgusted with himself even at the idea that he'd want the people he loved to be in pain because of him. But, it wasn't as though he could change any of his multitude of problems just like that.  
Not right now anyway, so Leo shoved that back into his mental file cabinet of issues to work on later.  
  
Right now?  
He just had to get back, because over everything else, Leo needed to see their faces.  
Leo needed to see they were alright.  
Jason, and Piper, Leo knew had been out of the way of the blast _he_ had been planning on causing....but whatever that missile thing that hit him was? He had no idea, though if he had to guess he'd bet on an onager. He hadn't gotten a good look at the Roman's stuff, but he had enough information to go off of from what Annabeth and Frank told him.  
If it was an onager, could there have been fallout?  
Hazel, Frank, Percy, Annabeth, Nico, Leo's siblings at Cabin 9, and the rest of the camp...Had they all made it out alright?  
  
“You're thinking,” Calypso stated, leaning her head over Leo's shoulder.  
  
“I do that sometimes,” Leo grinned.  
  
“And, it never seems to end well for you.”

Leo snorted, lips twitching up just slightly. True enough, he thought.

“Don't worry your pretty little head about it, baby. Just sit back and enjoy the ride.” Calypso was the one who snorted this time.  
  
“Call me baby or sunshine ever again, and I will personally see to it that you do not come back to life after I murder you.”

Leo threw a hand over his heart, “you wound me. I am wounded. Feels, broken. _Shattered_.” He said, stilted, mockingly.  
 Until Calypso landed a punch to what must have been one of his kidneys, then it was less funny.  
“Okay, okay, jeez. I'm sorry, I'll treat you to dinner. I hope you like tofu tacos.”

 

Calypso was silent for a minute, and even though Leo didn't have eyes out the back of his head (working on it), he could tell she had gone tense.  
“Leo, I think...we need to talk about your expectations. Regarding us.”  
  
“I like you, you like me, what is there to talk about?” Leo knew there was a lot to talk about. He just, really did not want to touch it with a ten foot spatha right now.

“What do you like about me, exactly?” She prompted, after a moment.  
  
“Well, you're beautiful. Like, the kind of girl who shouldn't like me. But, you do. Pretty hair, pretty eyes, prettier mouth.”

Leo heard Calypso exhale out, measured.  
“That isn't it, is it?” She asked softly.  
  
“I don't know what you mean.” Leo said, steadfastly looking forwards. Not looking back.  
  
“We're the same, Leo. Deep down, we're lonely. We don't reach out, because we're certain we'll be left. We fall in love easily, but only towards people we know will leave us. You came back for me, as much as you came back for yourself. Because you want _someone_. You want to belong somewhere, to someone. You want to be rescued from what you know...what feels like a hopeless situation.“  
Calypso whispered, she looked down towards Ogygia that was becoming smaller by the second,  
“We suffer from the same problems, in so many ways. But, I think, I'm older, I’ve had more time alone to think it over. I'd imagine you've been busier with, well.. you know.”

“Blowing up my great-grandmother, and dying in the process? A bit.” Leo said, coldly, reverting back to the Leo he didn't really like to show other people. One that saw more similarities between himself and Nico di Angelo than he'd like to admit. A side that was, he thought, more like Calypso.

“The only things you said you liked about me, were outwardly things. You like what makes me _different_ from you. Things you're using to distance yourself from me, to prove to yourself that we're somehow-”  
“Stop.” Leo cut in sharply. “I get it, okay. Enough, I know. I know. I realized. I'm not stupid, I'm just really fond of repression. I don't need the full lecture.”

 

Calypso leaned back, seemingly content with his answer.  
“I would still allow you to cook for me, however.” She said, airily.  
“I don't know what a tofu or a taco is, though.” She added after a moment of thought.  
  
Leo groaned, “you poor unfortunate soul.”

 

Whatever Calypso was going to say, the opportunity was taken from her.  
  
Leo wasn't really sure what happened, his spider senses hadn't been going off. Hell, the two of them (three of them: festus) were still in whatever sphere of magic held Ogygia, there shouldn't have been anything there besides them.  


All Leo knew, something hit him, and the next moment he was falling.  
  
Calypso screamed his name, her hand extended. He tried to reach, but it was just too far. She wouldn't be able to reach him, but Festus could.

Festus tried, the bronze dragon swung around, a metallic roar coming from deep within.

 

The sky shimmered, and the world seemed to close in around him. The sky was actually changing, like an invisible barrier of some sort. Whatever it was, it snapped shut.  
Festus, and Calypso, had vanished from sight.  
  
Leo continued to fall.

He tried to twist his body around, a cat flailing in midair, and saw Ogygia becoming drawing closer. Or, he was drawing closer.

Leo was pretty sure he was about to die. Again. Second time in...well he wasn't entirely sure how long ago he had died the first time.  
Gods, Leo thought with some shocked amusement, he really shouldn't be this used to plummeting towards an island that was supposedly unfindable. Of course, this time he didn't have his sphere. He had his tool belt, though.

'I need something, anything, to slow my fall. If I hit the water slow enough, I might maybe not die completely.' Leo thought, desperately digging into the largest pocket.

Fingers hitting fabric would have been a good enough reason to cheer out loud, if Leo didn't feel like the wind had been knocked from him. Yanking out what felt like a huge triangular piece of nylon fabric, Leo grasped the three corners like his life depended on it, which it kind of did at the moment.

The jerk that came from his makeshift parachute catching air was nearly enough to make Leo lose his grip. Leo didn't know if he could get rope burn, but if he could, he was pretty sure he just did.

It didn't slow Leo down much, not nearly as much as he would have hoped. But it was just enough that as the blue of the ocean became worryingly closer and closer, he had enough time to suck in a deep breath before he plunged into dark depths.

\----

 

Calypso stared in horror, her hand still extended towards the spot Leo had been. Something strong, a gust of wind perhaps, had pushed the boy from the back of his bronze dragon. Calypso tried to reach for him, not just by herself, but with her magic as well.  
There was a glimmer, was the first thing she noticed as he began to plummet. Then, she realized the sea below them was beginning to change; the current was going the wrong way for Ogygia, and the color of the waters was the wrong shade of blue.  
Magic, the barrier that kept Ogygia from the rest of the world, Calypso realized, but it was too late for her to help. For a brief second, all she could see was Leo's hand, the rest of his body having fallen below the barrier.

Then Leo was gone. He had been taken by Ogygia, or a force decided to keep him there, instead of her.

Was it punishment? Was Leo being punished, for freeing her from the island prison? Or was it her punishment?

Gaea was also still a possibility, even if she now slumbered, it was possible her children and minions still had power and motive to want Leo out of the picture.

 Calypso rarely had much to do, having lived thousands of years on an uninhabited island, but for the first time she found herself completely at a loss of what to do. There were so many possibilities she didn't know where to start.

Festus was beside himself, circling, circling. Breathing fire, limping along, diving lower, to the oceans surface. But, it didn't matter. Leo was no where to be found. Ogygia itself was no where to be seen.

 'Percy,' Calypso thought, realizing only one other person who could still be alive today had landed in Ogygia and managed to leave. She needed to get to Percy Jackson, to that camp, they would be able to find Leo. She couldn't bear the thought of Leo carrying out her punishment alone.

They were too alike, and she knew all too well how she had reacted in the first few years of being trapped. Sanity left, and didn't come back for what felt like eons. It was why the myths had portrayed her as less than kind, because she hadn't been.  
Leo, was scrawny, nearly delicate. His mind had already suffered stress and loss, and while he was a demigod, Calypso was the child of a Titan. She was stronger than he was, in many ways, and while he had his own strengths, there was a reason she had felt rather protective of him when they first met. They were similar minds, but Calypso was an ancient force; Leo, in comparison, was a child.  


Calypso was certain she wasn't going to be the only person who'd want to protect him. He had friends, family. People that were likely still mourning the fact they couldn't protect him.  
  
“Festus, calm down.” Calypso spoke firmly, leaning down closer to the dragons head. She didn't have charmspeak, but she was a powerful magician regardless. Her words had power.  
“If you want to get to Leo, we need to go to Camp Half Blood. Do you understand?” And the beast creaked, tilting it's head.  
“You must return to Camp Half Blood. To Cabin 9, to Bunker 9,” she whispered. A few individual teeth of the bronze dragon spun in place.  
“You saved Leo once, didn't you? If we are to do so again, we must return.”  
Festus looked up, and over the ocean in a direction Calypso hoped was Home to the thing. The dragon was beat up, with scorch marks, and was in what she believed was less than ideal condition. Leo would have likely stopped somewhere to repair him, but Calypso did not have that luxury right now. Time was different, more difficult on Ogygia. They needed to find Leo as quickly as possible, while his mind was still intact...provided he survived the fall. He was crafty, that's what she told herself, and moved on.

“I will hold you afloat, if you need help.” Running a finger down the spine of the dragon, Calypso could feel her magic eager to be used.

Festus snarled, and roared once more, before pumping his wings strongly. They were off in directions that Calypso had likely never been, under circumstances she would have never been able to imagine, three thousand years ago. 

  
“I hope he's not terribly bitter about that whole curse business,” Calypso hummed out loud.  
  
\---  
  


Leo was pretty happy when he opened his eyes, even if he was still underwater. At the very least, he didn't get knocked out and drown.  
One small victory at a time.  
Next battle? He was completely tangled in his dollarstore parachute, which he was pretty sure wasn't ideal.  
Flexing his hands, Leo wondered if he could burn his way out.

A small shiver made its way down his spine, remembering what it felt like to be a burnt corpse. Remembering sitting in the ashes of his mother's burnt down shop.  
There was no time for that thought, Leo couldn't afford to lose himself in fears. Not right now.  
  
He gave it his all, and his all wasn't much right now, but still a light encased him. 

The water around him began to bubble, and the three cornered tarp began to melt. It wouldn't light, but it was hot enough to make a difference. At the very least, Leo could establish which way was up and which was down, by the flow of the bubbles around him. Shoving the parachute off around his body, Leo kicked a few times weakly until his head broke through the ceiling of liquid.

Spluttering a few times, and taking even more well deserved deep breaths, Leo spun around treading water to find the island.  
It thankfully wasn't far, but Leo's entire body felt like a mild bruise, and just treading water was wearing him out faster than he wanted to admit. But, Leo didn't know what was in these waters, and really didn't want to get eaten by a sea monster. Insult on top of injury.  
  
It took an excruciatingly long time for Leo to half swim half limpingly dog-paddle towards the shore of Ogygia. He more or less crawled onto the sand, before rolling on his back and collapsing. He was out of the water, at the very least.  
Another victory for Leo Valdez. He deserved like, an entire pack of golden star stickers.

  
  
“Leo Valdez,” A voice spoke from behind him.

'Well, that isn't right.' Leo thought, tilting his head backwards until he saw the speaker. Calypso, it very much was not.

“Oh, shit.” Leo groaned.

Apollo glowered down at the beached Latino.  
  
“You tricked me.” The blond God said, sounding less and less like a teenaged guy who bore a great resemblance to his son Will Solace back at Camp.  
“I don't like being played, Leo Valdez.” No, the God just sounded straight up pissed off.

“I, uh. Didn't trick you? ..Sir?” Leo winced internally, knowing he hadn't phrased it well.

“You did, you gave me an instrument that would never work properly. On top of that, the help I extended to you, out of the goodness of my heart, ended with me getting punished by my father.”

Leo tried his best to sit up, even though he was feeling pretty good about rolling around on the warm sand for the next 8 hours, trying to ignore the fact his back was now more sand than skin now.  
“It isn't my fault your dad punished you for that, man.” Leo said, trying not to whine. Apollo wasn't moved by the self restraint Leo showed.  
  
“Are you blaming my father? The King of the Gods?” Apollo said hotly, like the big ball of hot gas he was in charge of.  
  
“Only..for the actions he takes?” Leo offered, grinning crookedly.  
  
“I should kill you,” Apollo said firmly, and Leo really was hoping for more of a, 'softly.' Maybe, 'jokingly'.

“But, I can't. You're being treated as a _hero_ ,” Apollo hissed like it was a dirty word. Leo didn't know if the God disliked the concept of Heroes in general, or just Leo being one.  
“If I were to kill you, Hades would know. They'd contact your soul, and find out it was I who killed you. Them, I'd get punished. Again. So, as much as I'd like to...,” the surfer looking ancient God trailed off.

“...You've decided to let me go free, understanding how very sorry I am?” Leo said hopefully, giving the God the biggest and best puppy dog eyes Leo could manage.  
  
“No,” Apollo smiled for once, tilting his head.  
“I'm doing the very opposite. You'll not die. You're going to bear the same fate that Calypso had. But this time, no one will wash up here. Ogygia is under _my_ command now. You will live forever, Leo Valdez, and you will live forever alone. “  
  
Leo's hopeful eyes fell, replaced with a hard expression.  
“I'll find a way out. I found a way out, twice, if you remember. I'll do it again.”  
Grinning cockily, Leo added, “then I'll tattle to your daddy.”

Apollo looked less amused now.   
“I'd like to see you try without this,” and lifted up a tool belt.

Leo's tool belt. Snapping his eyes down to the now missing belt around his waist, back to the one Apollo was holding.  
“That's a good look,” Apollo said with a cheeky grin, before vanishing without a trace.

 

Leo shivered, and for the first time in a long time, was out of ideas.

 


	2. A bit of Luck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go, chapter 2.  
> Merry Holiday's everyone, stay safe out there.

  
  
   Hazel was sitting with Frank, in Bunker 9.  
Both of their eyes were red, and every little thing around them was a painful reminder of Leo. But, at the same time, they couldn't leave. They had been here, right here, for hours. The most they had said was a thanks to Nyssa and Jake, for letting them into the Bunker. It had taken some time trying to get into the place, since no one else had Leo's fire abilities, but they found a way. The siblings of Leo hadn't stuck around long, they too didn't seem like they deal with the loss of their half brother. But they were Greek, and Hazel and Frank were Roman. They weren't about to hide from the blame they themselves shared.  
Hazel stared at the crayon drawing of the Argo II on the wall, and for what was likely the thousandth time, went over all of her last conversations with Leo in her head.

Leo's plan was terrible, but it was less terrible than some of their plans. It seemed fairly straight forward, and while it could have ended horribly there was a chance it might just have worked, but no one had counted on the onager going off when it did. If it destroyed Festus, which it seemed to have, it would have also destroyed the vial. There was no coming back from that.  


The thing that bothered them the most, next to the loss of their friend, was the complete disappearance of not only Leo's body but also _all_ of Festus. How could that have even happened? Destruction, expected, not even a bolt being found was strange.  
They just, vanished. No traces left.  
Then, brought the second problem. While both Hazel and Nico had felt Leo die, upon asking Nico to check with their father as to what became of Leo's soul..Hades couldn't say.   
He wasn't refusing to say, it was simply that Leo Valdez was _not_ in the underworld. Not to his knowledge.  
Body and spirit, missing. 

It was too painful to wonder what had happened, but they could also not stop themselves from wondering. Could it have been Gaea? Could it have been Tartarus taking revenge? Or, could Leo still be alive..somewhere out there.  
Briefly, Hazel wondered if Leo could have ended up in Ogygia, she knew he wanted rescue the trapped girl, but that wasn't a part of their plan. Granted, there might have been circumstances they couldn't count on, but the idea of him being alive on Ogygia was discarded quickly too. They knew he was alive before, when he was on Ogygia, even if they couldn't tell where he was.

Franks hand curled over Hazel's, and she looked up at him with tired eyes.

“We should go,” he said softly.  
  
“I know,” Hazel nodded, taking one last look around the Bunker.  
  
“I don't mean from here,” Frank started, sounding nervous..like Old Frank was seeping through.  
“We should go back to New Rome soon, it's..it's been a few months Hazel. I don't think..” Frank took a deep breath before continuing on.  
“He's not coming back. I don't think he'd want us to ..not live our lives...just waiting.”  
  
Hazel smiled, softly. Sadly.  
“I know what you meant, and you're right. We need to go home.”

Frank nodded, and squeezed her hand reassuringly.  
“It's just hard,” she added.  
  
“I know,” Frank agreed, “I didn't even like him at first, and it's still taken me an hour to say anything.”  


Hazel stood up, and looked around one last time.  
“Okay,” she nodded. Frank hugged her close, always a comfort, but even more so now after his fathers blessing.  
They moved slowly towards the exit, turning around just once for a last look.  
  
“Goodbye, Leo.”  
  
“We'll miss you,” Frank added softly.

\--

They walked out into woods, and didn't turn around again, though Hazel choked on a sob hearing the door swing closed. They walked together in silence, back to the main part of the camp. Flowers, from the nymphs and satyrs were left along the once unknown and dangerous path. They weren't the only ones who missed the short, pointy eared smartass. The whole camp mourned.

Reaching camp, Hazel and Frank were immediately noticed by Nico. Her brother walked up to them, along with Will and Jake. 

“You alright?” Nico asked tentatively, though he looked more self assured in the last few months than any other time Hazel had known him.  
  
Will had expanded Nico's circle of friends, some of which were other gay campers. Nico had told her awhile back that he didn't want to think about crushes or dating, or cute dark haired seagreen eyed boys for awhile, but Hazel had noticed the closeness between Nico and Will not to mention Mitchell from Aphrodite cabin seemed to have a pretty huge crush on Nico, which Nico was well aware of, and completely confused by. Will found it amusing, and liked to poke at Nico regarding it, which usually ended in Nico snarling and Jason having to step in and shut down the whole situation.

Hazel looked to Frank, and they exchanged small smiles before nodding.

“As much as I can, right now.” Nico nodded, understanding.  
  
That was before Percy came boiling up the hill and half slammed into the younger boy who turned about 8 different shades of who knows what emotion. As much as Nico pretended he didn't care anymore, Hazel was pretty sure Nico was stuck between an existing crush on Percy, and two growing crushes on Will and maybe even Jason, and being conflicted about the attention he was getting from Mitchell.  
  
“You guys,” Percy wheezed out, gripping Nico's shoulder, who immediately shook him off.  
“Festus. They spotted Festus.”

They all froze.

“What?” Hazel whispered.  
  
“Clarisse, and some of the other Apollo kids. The look outs, they just spotted Festus flying in over the bay.” Percy explained, before making waving motions towards the docks.

“We need to go down there, like now?”  
  
“He- it's in one piece?!” Frank exclaimed. “Festus is flying?” Percy nodded frantically.

They exchanged looks, before they took off running.

Half the camp was gathered at the docks, some looked excited, others like Clarisse were wary with weapons ready. The campers were pushed back by Chiron, who seemed just as worried as the daughter of Ares, but it gave the dragon more room to land.

Jason and Piper were there, eyes trained hard on the sky, holding hands.  
They both looked a bit shaky, and Hazel could imagine why. They hid it better, in some ways, but Jason and Piper had been there when Leo died, and their sorrow over the loss of their best friend was palpable to anyone with eyes.  
  
Festus spiraled above their heads, and Hazel felt her heart catch when they could tell there was obviously a rider on his back.

Festus touched down, roaring triumphantly, and the rider slid off and appeared from behind the wings. There was momentary silence, until Percy sucked a breath in.

“Calypso?” He asked, astonished.

Hazel's eyes widened in recognition of the description Leo had given her on the Argo II, and her and Frank exchanged similar looks. This was the girl Leo wanted to save? And she was on Festus, which meant...

Piper ran forward with Jason in toe, before anyone could say anything else, and grabbed the girls shoulders.

“Where is Leo?!” Piper yelled, eyes a multitude of swirling color.  
Calypso's eyes were wide as well, before a sad look overtook her face. No, Hazel corrected, not just sad. Guilty.  
  
Calypso took an uneven breath,  
“He died. But, he used the cure. He's ...Leo is alive, last I saw.”

Hazel felt faint. Frank grasped her shoulder, but his face was a bit pale and his eyes were sharp.

“But, there's more to it than that...,” Calypso trailed off, righting herself.

Calypso turned her attention to Percy, giving a short one-over to Annabeth a few feet away.

“I need your help. As we were leaving Ogygia, Leo was pulled from Festus. He fell, back to Ogygia. Something, someone...made sure I and Festus left, but trapped him there instead. Obviously, my first thought was Gaea, but she shouldn't still have any control over Ogygia.”

The sky crackled, and everyone spun to look at Jason, who had a dark look over his face.

“I'm going to go speak with my Patron.” He announced, Piper wiped her face and the duo left, presumably to go to Hera's cabin, and likely Zeus' as well. The rest of the camp looked progressively more unsettled, and Annabeth was speaking quietly to Grover, while Chiron began to order people back to their cabins.

Nico walked forward and touched Hazel's shoulder. “I'll go speak to Father.”

Hazel hugged him closely, briefly, before he nodded at her, and followed the path Jason and Piper went. He needed shadows.

Frank moved forward to exchange a few words with his Greek half sister Clarisse, before moving back beside Hazel, reaching for her hand. In some way, they knew now, their plan had worked. Leo was, possibly, hopefully, alive. They would find him this time. They were in this together.

“He was..alright though? Leo?” Frank asked, turning to Calypso, who for a very pretty young woman looked a bit frazzled.  
  
She wrinkled her nose, just slightly.  
“The fireproof clothing I made for him was in tatters. I'd imagine whatever death he suffered was far worse than he wanted to speak to me about. But, he was in one piece, yes. From what I put together, he was dead until just before he found me. He was still dead, upon arriving above Ogygia from what I could tell. I'm not sure what happened, if it was the fault of Festus or not, but I can't imagine it was..Festus only made it this far, because I used magic to keep his body together. He is in serious need of repairs, which Leo was planning on doing before...,” Calypso paused, looking down at her feet.  
  
“He's just a boy, he doesn't deserve what I went through. I can not say if he is, or isn't, alright at this moment. But I can promise you, the longer he spend there, the less alright he will be.”  
  
\--  


 Leo was still cold. Stupidly cold, for someone who spent time as a baby in an oven. Sitting on the beach, drawing little Apollo's in the sand and watching with sadistic glee as the water drowned them, wasn't actually helping his situation. It made him feel a bit better, yes, but he was still in wet clothes and completely stranded. Also, cold.

Standing up was a battle, one that Leo won after a few attempts. He had aches before he fell, before he hit water, before he swam to shore, and the cold made none of them better. So Leo realized his only option was to head for Calypso's cave. Hopefully, she had a fireplace, or maybe even blankets.  
  
It wasn't too far, which was nice, but more than 5 feet in Leo's book right now was 4 feet too far. But he managed, and was saddened though not shocked by the fact there was no fire going. He lit it with a small amount of remaining energy, before looking around properly. The cave had been dark when he entered, but now that it was softly lit by the fire in a stone circle, Leo could take it all in.  
  
He wasn't exactly sure what he had been expecting from Calypso, but in some ways, the mess of materials strewn everywhere made perfect sense. The was a rhythm to the clutter, one that looked a lot like Bunker 9, but instead of gears and cogs, it was books and parchment and bottles and glass filled with who knows what.  
“We really are too alike, aren't we.” Leo said aloud, as though Calypso could hear. Or maybe, he was just so used to talking to Festus. Or, maybe he was just talking to himself to keep himself grounded.

Then, Leo cheered. 

Blankets.

What had probably been Calypso's bed at one point, which was mostly bare now, still had a few ancient looking blankets on it. He figured she had taken most the nicer stuff with her, but this would do, for now.  
So Leo removed the tattered remains of his clothing, with the exception of his underwear, cus'...he knew some of the legends and didn't really trust Apollo. Didn't need his bare behind broadcast all over godly news. Wrapping two blankets around his shoulders, Leo laid down next to the fireplace. While he wasn't worried of catching fire, not really, he still poked a corner of the blanket into the fireplace and was pleased to see it was just as fireproof as the other things Calypso had given him.  
So, he settled down. Nap time for Leo.

Because, facing facts..it had been a _really_ long day for the 15 year old.  
  
  
He awoke sometime later, hours Leo guessed by how far down the sun was. His body had warmed enough that he didn't mind letting the blankets fall from his shoulders. Leo groaned and stretched, trying not a whimper as his muscles complained against the movement.

The cave was already dark before the sun began to go down, and even with a fire lit it was beginning to get harder to see again. Leo thought briefly about becoming his own little Leo-Lamp, but something in the back of his mind urged against it. Maybe the part of him that remembered dying. Thoughts that were beginning to catch up to him, after the fall.

Thankfully, Leo didn't have to think about the issue much longer, noticing the amount of candles that were in Calypso's cave-slash-home-slash-prison cell. Most of them were huge, and had been obviously used before. There were a few in what amounted to corners of the cave that would have new stood around Leo's own height. Granted, he wasn't the tallest person in the world, but it was still impressive. He tried to imagine Calypso rolling such huge chunks of wax, and snickered until realizing the longer he stayed on Ogygia, the greater the likelihood of him having to do much of the same. Leo made a candle once, years ago, for mothers day in 1st grade. But all of the supplies were ...well, supplied. If he had his toolbelt, he may have been able to pull something out of it, but now? He supposed he'd have to just..make do, somehow.  
Leo was pretty good at the somehow.

 

Getting up, and grabbing one of the smaller candles, Leo lit it from the still burning fire he had made, and walked around the cave lighting whichever he saw fit. They seemed to be in specific places, and were specific colors, and Leo began to wonder if they were actually used for lighting or ceremonial purposes.  
'Magical, more likely,' Leo hummed in his head. Looking towards a table, his gaze landed on a few squatty looking pieces of pottery that reminded him of a really low tech Aladdin's lamp. Oil lamps, it sunk in. He began to light those instead, and put out a few of the candles, just in case Calypso had some sort of crazy island magic curse put on them.

That, was actually something worth checking. If Calypso had set any sort of traps, or just spells for herself, like he guessed she would have likely done, Leo really didn't want to accidentally trip one by literally tripping into one.

 

There were tons of bookshelves, but many of the books looked to be missing. But, it wasn't like Calypso could take everything with her when they left, so for the most part they were still full of ancient tomes and scrolls.  
Leo deposited his candle back into a holder, and ran thin fingers down the spine of one of the biggest books. Pulling it out, his lips pursed at the title.

He couldn't read the title. It looked..Italian maybe? Old though, some of the words had a familiarity to Spanish, but Leo was still out of luck when it came to translating the thing. That one went back on the shelf. Leo grabbed the oldest looking book he could find next, the spine was more lashed together and looked like the evolved form of a scroll, rather than a proper novel.  
That one, he could read, which would never stop being a little bit weird since it was in Greek. Ancient Greek at that. Looked like they were all typing in caps, but...in writing.

ΕΚΑΤΗ ΚΑΙ ΚΙΡΚΗ 

“H-Hecate and Circe?” Leo mumbled out loud, flipping open the book gently.

“Looks like I'm in the right spot.”  
The book itself was filled with what he guessed were spells and recipes for potions. Most of the ingredients for the potions were not only things Leo wouldn't have access to, but just straight up things he didn't want anywhere near him.

Having his hair more luscious for suitors was definitely not worth boiling a mixture of dog hair, bull testicle, naiad ovum, gorgon blood, and then drinking it as a power shake. Leo drew the line at Ovum. You'd think he'd draw the line at testicle, but he was from Texas after all.

Some of the beginning of the text was more on Hecate and Circe themselves, as well as a few other famous magicians.  
Calypso was even mentioned briefly, as an enchantress. Leo's lips quirked upwards, amused but not doubting the account. She was a beautiful girl, and knew what she wanted, and had a lot of time learning how to get it. Leo didn't fault her for that, and believed it more likely that the Greeks who had written the account probably just weren't used to a woman standing up for herself. Then again, Calypso wasn't any ordinary woman. She wasn't a demigod, nor a monster, she was half Titan.

Alone, and wildly misunderstood and distrusted. Leo felt like he could understand that.  


Still grinning, Leo put the book aside and grabbed up one of the scrolls. It didn't appear to be as old as the book, however. It too, was in Greek, but it was more modern. Not..modern modern. Leo wasn't even certain he'd understand modern Greek. His brain was hardwired for Ancient Greek, the language of his Father, not the Greece of today.

_ Υια Μαγεια  
_This was more what Leo was looking for, the text was more a how to; a beginners guide to using magic.

“Well, if Hazel can do it, so can I...probably.”

 

His intentions were two-fold. One, he needed to know if there was anything on the island that Calypso had put up as a defense. That in an of itself was not just for his own personal safety, but he didn't trust Apollo right now, and there was a possibility he'd need some way to protect himself in the mean time before he could build anything.

The second part of the plan was, Leo didn't have his belt any longer. Sure there were some supplies here, and plenty of bronze, but Leo would have a hard time powering anything. His tools would be rudimentary, regardless of what he could create in his own mind. Magic, which Leo had seen in action being around Calypso and Hazel, might end up being the answer to some of his problems in that regard.

 

If nothing else, it gave Leo something to do, to prevent his poor little ADHD brain from going into over-drive with nowhere to go.

So, he moved his pile of blankets from in front of the fire onto the rather rustic looking mattress and settled down. It took a few tries with the oil lamps to see which was the best angle for lighting to read in the dreary cave, but soon enough he was lost into the material.  
  
\-- 

Frank wasn't really sure how to feel, or even what he was allowed to feel.  
Were Praetors allowed to have emotions?  
His evidence from Reyna was kind of touch and go.  
  
After Festus showed up, with Calypso on back and Leo..not. They decided to wait for Jason and Piper outside of Hera's cabin. No one was saying much to Calypso, besides Hazel who kept prompting the girl for information regarding Leo. There wasn't much to tell and Calypso herself looked vaguely annoyed at first, but soon her expression became fond. Sad, but fond.

Really, all that was important was Leo was alive.

Alive.  
And so soon after Frank thought it was hopeless. Talk about an emotional roller coaster. But, that was kind of how their lives worked, wasn't it?

 Half a year ago, Frank had thought about killing the little elfen kid. Granted, that was a thought more spawned by Mars going a bit off inside his mind, but still. Leo thought about Franks welfare to the point that even while trapped on Ogygia the first time, he had gotten a fireproof container for the piece of wood that controlled Franks life. That went pretty far in Frank's book. Leo was a comrade, a new friend.  
Then, Leo decided not to fight against the prophecy, but to bend it in such a way that gave him a fighting chance. But, it was still a decision that put Leo at risk, rather than Jason. After they thought Leo died, Frank wanted nothing more than to go back in time, and find another way. To have asked the Gods when they had the chance to free Calypso. To find a way to spare Leo, and Jason. Or simply, just more time to find a new plan, a better plan that didn't involve anyone they cared about sacrificing themselves.

 A few times, in the darkest part of Franks mind, he almost wished that it had been Jason instead of Leo. He didn't know why, because Frank liked Jason..but Leo was just....an idiot, a small little idiot. And..scrawny. Frank really didn't know much about Leo's life before they met, and Jason and Piper steadfastly didn't want to talk about it. Maybe that was why Frank sympathized, because he too had no more family..and besides Hazel..these people weren't his friends..Camp Half Blood wasn't Franks home. Hell, the USA wasn't his home. He felt a bit out of place too, like he knew Leo had felt on the Argo II.  
Jason had two places to belong to, he had a sister, and a girlfriend and friends. Jason was a son of Jupiter, one of the so called 'big three', but more than that he was beloved by both camps. On some level, Frank understood why Leo thought it would be better that if the worst were to happen, that it be , and not Jason, to fall. But, to Frank that was all the more reason for it not to have been Leo.

 He hated himself, a little, for ever agreeing to that stupid plan. But did it matter anymore, now there was such a strong likelihood of Leo being alive?  
The pains of death wasn't easily forgotten, Frank saw that enough in Hazel. The pains of being trapped on Ogygia were similarly not forgotten, he saw that in Calypso and even Percy, and briefly in Leo himself.  
Last time Leo returned, he had been quiet. He wasn't cracking jokes, and he wasn't pretending everything was alright or trying to keep up the spirits of all the crew members as much. At first, Frank thought, like Hazel did, it was due to love-sickness. Leo must have met Calypso and fell head over heels. But, that didn't seem to be completely true either. It was evident they cared for each other, probably loved one another, but it seemed to be more along the lines of Reyna and Nico's friendship, or Percy and Hazel's. 

So then Frank wondered if maybe, just being on Ogygia was enough to make the younger boy more withdrawn. That didn't seem to be completely right either.  
Maybe, that Leo...was the real Leo. The Leo he wasn't showing to everyone else, because he didn't have to play a part anymore.  
That almost worried Frank more, because Leo was his friend and the Leo he saw after Ogygia was almost as withdrawn as Nico. Nico, who they knew had retreated due to his own insecurities and fears about himself and how he thought others would react to him. Either being gay, or because he was a son of Hades. Nico had since come a bit more out of his shell, but he still had bad days. Days he'd vanish, because he took a comment the wrong way...or because he took it the way it was intended. Not all campers were sympathetic to Nico, for any multitude of reasons.   
So, what was Leo hiding?

Frank's thought process was cut off when Jason and Piper came out of the Hera cabin, looking less than pleased.

“Could you not contact her?” Annabeth asked, beside Percy. 

“No, we did.” Jason said, brushing a hand down his face in exasperation.

“She just can't help us. Neither her, nor my father, know anything much. Apparently, Ogygia isn't under their command anymore. They don't know where it is, and they don't know who took it. Hera wasn't thrilled either, Leo was apparently supposed to be some sort of...champion of hers. Since she helped train him as a child. Her meddling in the war, between camps, and her involvement with Leo was supposed to be some sign to the rest of the Gods that she was just as dutiful and intelligent a leader as anyone else. Leo vanishing, with no one able to track him..not exactly what she was hoping for.”

“No help on my end either,” Nico said, exiting his own cabin. He looked a bit tired, so Hazel got up from Franks side and moved to her brother. 

“All I can say is our father still has no evidence that Leo Valdez is dead. Thanatos said much the same. They can't rule out Tartarus' involvement, but Persephone commented he had been quieter since..around the time Percy and Annabeth got out. Take that as you will.”  
The two named, look down at their laps. They were still unwilling to talk about certain things during their trip to the underworld, though Piper seemed to know something, and Nico seemed to know and understood not to say much to anyone else. Frank didn't think he had even told Hazel yet.

“I'll Iris message Thalia, and make sure the hunters are on the look out for any information.” Jason said, looking very much a leader still, even with crooked glasses. 

“I'm going to go talk to Hedge and Mellie,” Piper added.

Annabeth pushed herself up, before casting a glance at Percy. “We can both go, I think we should talk to Grover and Juniper more too.”  
  
“I think I'll stay.” Percy said slowly, gauging Annabeth's reaction. “I'm the only other person who has been to Ogygia, so I should probably talk this over more with Calypso.”

Frank thought that Annabeth looked a bit like a hawk sometimes, and this was one of those times. She seemed to be looking over Percy's expression deeply, before simply nodding and leaving with Piper. Whatever she wanted to see, she must have saw, and that was the end of it. Frank was under the impression there was something more than something as simple as jealousy, something that probably also had to do with Tartarus.

“Then, I should probably go contact Reyna.” Nico said after a moment, and was immediately shoved down onto a bench by Hazel, Will, and Percy.

“You're not shadow traveling to California, Nico.” Jason said wearily.  
It was a bit funny to Frank to see how quickly Jason and Nico became friends. He wasn't sure if Nico liked Jason as more than a friend, he doubted it, but regardless, they worked better off of one another than even Nico and Will, who Frank suspected were more likely to start dating sometime in the future.

“I'll do it,” Frank said. They turned to look at him, Nico cocked an eyebrow.

“Not...Not shadow travel. I mean, I'll contact Reyna. I should anyway, just ..Praetor business.”

Jason nodded, and smiled thankfully.

“I think I'm going to check in with Nyssa and Jake, and see how long it'll take to repair Festus, alright?” Will stood up, and brushed his hands off on his scrubs. 

“Do you want to come with?” He asked, turning his attention to Nico who shook his head.  
  
“We're going to the Big House next, right?” Nico asked, looking to Percy, Jason and Calypso.

“Yeah, we should probably talk to Rachel.” Percy nodded.

“Ah, well. Don't let me break up the big three, then.” Will grinned, and Nico rolled his eyes like only a teenager could properly.

“What is a Big Three?” Calypso asked, looking to Frank, who was closest.  
  
“Children of Jupiter, Pluto, and Neptune,” Frank responded.  
  
“You're Roman?” Calypso asked with a bit of surprise.  
  
“Ah, yeah. So is Jason. He's a son of Jupiter, Percy is a son of Poseidon, Nico son of Hades.”  
  
“And they always forget to include me,” Hazel added, shooting a look at Frank and Will who took it as his sign to leave.  
  
“Daughter of Pluto,” Frank said with a fond smile.  
  
“I see,” Calypso said.  
“And you are friends with Leo, correct?”  
  
“Best friends,” Jason agreed. Calypso looked him over, expression blank.  
  
“How did you make acquaintances?”  
  
“Leo, Piper, and I were all at a wilderness camp. It was basically a boot camp for troubled youth. And, well..I think Leo and Piper had been sent there honestly. But I had my memory wiped and was placed there by Juno, er..Hera.”

“Why was Leo there?” Calypso pressed on.  
  
“Uh, well. His mom died in a fire caused by Gaia when he was 8, he ended up in foster homes. Kept running away, from what he told me. Leo really never liked to talk about it, honestly. Then again, we never had many chances to have any long heart to hearts between things trying to kill us constantly” Jason said.  
“I have no idea what his life then was like, Piper might know better than me, but he did mention once having slept in a sewer before. I don't think he had the happiest childhood, but that isn't..hugely uncommon in demigod kids. Though, I think Leo was hit a bit harder than some. Leo, Annabeth, my sister Thalia, Reyna, Nico...Hazel,” Jason nodded to the girl, “there's been a lot of loss.”

Calypso looked not entirely unsurprised by the information, and Frank wondered how much she actually knew beforehand. What was her intention asking.

“I didn't know that,” Hazel whispered after a moment. Frank hadn't either, realizing there were more similarities between himself and Leo than he would have expected.

None of them had easy lives, really. But now, at least, they had each other...except Leo..who was alone.  
Frank couldn't imagine how hard that would be.

  
\---  
  
“Maaagic!” Leo wiggled his fingers over a bit of parchment, willing the spell to work.

Supposedly, it was a basic spell.   
One that was more about proper circle design, than internal power or mist. He needed to levitate a bit of crystal, and wasn't having much more luck than getting it to shiver like it's underwear had ridden up on it. 

It had been a few days since Leo first found himself on Ogygia again. He marked a sheet with a tally for each day, but in the back of his mind he knew that time didn't pass normally on Ogygia. Who knew how long he had been missing. Hell, he didn't even know how long he had been dead. Adding his time here on top of that?  
Leo had no clue.  
  
So Leo returned to his own personal library of shadows, to see why his magic wasn't working. 

Maybe he just had no talent for the subject, given most of expertise laid in metal and machinery. Inorganic life forms, but maybe not magic. It was a whole new realm for him.  
But, admittedly, Calypso had been here for thousands of years, not a couple days.  
So he looked back at the spell instructions. Leo had followed it to the T, but he was pretty sure some parts of the spell circle had been rewritten by Calypso at some point. Maybe it was tuned to her.  
Leo tried to correct his own parchment best he could, and removed a symbol that he was certain Calypso had added, and it's place put in the symbol of Hephaestus that had once flashed over his own head what seemed like forever ago.

Leo moved the crystal back into place, and took a deep breath and focused. Focused to the best of his ability. He wasn't great with the whole focus thing.

Suddenly, the words on the parchment began to glow- and then the words burst into flames. And then the crystal flew into the ceiling of the cave and shattered.

Leo blinked, as snowfall of crystal fell onto his head.

“YES!” He stood cheering, fist bumping imaginary people.

“WHO IS THE _SUPREME_ LEADER OF AWESOME?! FIREBENDER, BAD BOY, _MAGIC_ _EXTRAORDINAIRE_!”  
  
Leo danced to himself in the cave for a few minutes, even running outside to do a few small victory laps. He was giggling stupidly, giddy, when he trotted back in.  
It needed some more refinement, definitely. But, the more important point was _Leo_ could do _magic_.  
  
Leo smiled to himself, just imagining Jason and Piper's reaction to that bit of news. Hazel would probably be happy for him, maybe they could help one another. Leo really wouldn't mind spending more time with Hazel. Frank though, Frank would probably be less thrilled about the whole Leo Magic thing. But, Leo plopped onto his cot, crooked grin on his face.. he wouldn't mind spending more time with Hazel _and_ Frank, to be honest. Jason and Piper were his best friends, but, there was just something about being around Frank and Hazel.  
  
  
“Good job, there.”  
  
Leo looked up so fast his neck nearly snapped. For just a moment, he thought he was looking at Apollo again.  
  
“Who..are you?” Leo's eyes narrowed at the blond in front of him. The guy had kind of this ghostly image going on. Leo knew people couldn't come to Ogygia, but was it possible that is someone died in the waters around it, their ghost might remain?  
  
“I'm a messenger. Friend, sort of. Though some might say otherwise.”

“How did you get here? What's with the ghosty thing? I'm pretty sure Halloween isn't for awhile.”  
  
The guy grinned.  
“Actually, you're just past Halloween. And like I said, I'm a messenger. We go places.”

“Are you Hermes?” Leo asked, thinking back on the original myth of Hermes coming to free Odysseus on the God's behalf. 

“Nah, we don't get along too great. But, he is my dad. My name is Luke. As for the ghost thing, I'm dead. Shocker, I know.”

“Luke?” Leo cocked his head. “I've heard that name before. Luke..Castille or something. You're like a friend of Annabeth..or..was it enemy.”

Luke laughed, “Castellan, man. I'm not soap.”  
“But, you're right. I betrayed Camp Half Blood awhile back. I think I made up for it, in the end. Hurt a lot of people though. People I cared about. In the end, it was because of me that Gaea rose up. I..suppose you'd say I upset the status quo. Can't say I feel bad about putting some Gods and Titans on their tip toes, though there were better ways to go about it.”

“Ways that didn't get people, and yourself killed?”  
  
Luke just raised his eyebrows, and fixed Leo with this look like he was getting at something.  
  
“...You're saying that about me with your eyes, aren't you.” Leo asked dryly.  
“I could have gone about things in a different way? That's what you mean, right?”

The ghostly son of Hermes shrugged his shoulders.

“All I know is, my actions hurt a lot of people I didn't really want to hurt. And now, I'm not there to help them anymore. If that sounds like you too, well then...Since you're still alive, maybe you should get back to them.”

Leo could feel his fingers beginning to light themselves. Ghost guy reminded him a bit of that dick Octavian, not a happy reminder.

“I'm trying alright? What do you think this is?! Did you come here just to taunt me, or do you actually plan to help me?”

Luke's face was unreadable. That might have been because Leo wasn't great at reading people, or maybe because Luke was a bit see through.

“On the other side of the island, is more Bronze, and even Imperial Gold. Pieces of broken down vessels from different centuries litter the rocks. But, your problem is power right? You need to power them, but you don't have any means to do so. Hence the magic, I feel you brother. But, what you have here? It won't help you. You need something a little bit stronger, to do what you're planning.”  
  
Leo was cautious, he was remembering stories of the Titan War, and more importantly some of the things Luke had done during it.

“So, you're going to tell me how?”  
  
“Oh, no. I have no idea.”  
Leo sent a fireball through Luke's face. It didn't do anything besides make the guy smirk, but Leo felt a little bit better.  
  
“But, I do know that in one of those big pillar candles? There's a hollowed out section where Calypso stored some of her stronger spells. Ones that aren't in any of these books here. Ones she didn't need, or simply forgot about. But, they might be able to solve a few of your problems.”

“How do you know all of this? How'd you even get here, Apollo said it was closed off from even the other Gods.”

Luke's face turned stormy.  
“I'm not the Gods. Apollo may have closed of way of Gods and mortals, but I'm not alive. Plus, I had a pretty helpful hint from someone else in Elysium who had been here before. But, you're right to think I'm not helping you out of pure intentions. I need help, well more like there are a few people in the underworld that need help. Tartarus is planning something, and there are only a few people who can stop him. I can't appear on earth right now, I'm not strong enough yet..but Ogygia? Well, it isn't really here..or there..or anywhere. And, since I'm not really anyone anymore, it's a bit easier to reach.”

Leo crossed his arms, letting the information sink in.

“Say I believe you, what am I supposed to do after I prison break it up?”

“Tell Nico I need to speak with him, in the underworld.” Luke said simply.  
“I can't find him, he needs to find me. Also, if Annabeth and Percy need proof...,”

Something Leo hadn't seen before crawled up onto Luke's shoulder. It looked like a little skeletal cat. With very long teeth.  
  
“This is Little Bob. That alone should tell them what they need to know.”

“That is a cutest little creepy thing I have ever seen,” Leo said flatly. Luke nodded.

“Well, I've got to go. Good luck, Valdez. People down here are pretty impressed with you. Even Odysseus, and that guy is kind of a blowhard.”

Luke began to fade, and the little cat hissed ..somehow... Even though it lacked obvious vocal chords.

“I'm not sure how long it will take you, kid. But, regardless if you get out first or they find you first...It might be awhile. Try not to let it go to your head. Never leads anywhere good.”

“You'd know.” Leo shot back, and Luke faded to nothing laughing.

Leo stood still for a moment, not an easy task for him, before darting quickly over to the giant candles. Sure enough, on the second one he checked, a thick piece of wax block pulled out to reveal a hollow space within, filled with scrolls and a few more pieces of parchment.

Leo extracted them gingerly, before reading them over.

A dark smile curved over his features, a look that sent many a substitute teachers running for the hills.  
“Oh, oh yes. This will do nicely.”

Another piece of crystal launched itself off the table, this time, without a spell circle below it.

  


 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh, so. That was a chapter. Stay tuned for more at some point. 
> 
> (I have no idea how to write any of these bloody characters.)
> 
> Just a language FYI,(not) shockingly I do not speak Greek. I can, however, read the..alphabet. Not a remarkable feat, but I at least wanted to make sure I was spelling Hecate and Circe in what would be..hopefully correct in Ancient Greek.Greek doesn't actually have the letter C. So, Circe, for example, would have been pronounced with a harder K sound, not S's. Similarly, while Roman, Caesar, was likely pronounced..Kaesar. ....Not, pizza pizza.   
> 'EKATH KAI KIPKH' = 'Hecate and Circe'  
> 'Υια Μαγεια' = 'On Magic'.  
> Easy enough, and there is unlikely to be more than just that in the story.


	3. In the Details.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is not long enough, nor good enough, to warrant the time it took me to update, especially given I had 95% of it already written. But I've been sick or something, shoot me.

A year passed, yet still..nothing.

 

Eventually, Hazel and Frank had to return to New Rome.   
Frank was a Praetor after all, he couldn't afford to spend all of his time at Camp Half Blood. Though, assuring the happy exchange of campers and relations between the two camps was an extremely important task, they still found themselves visiting often. Not as often as they'd like, however. Around 4,000 kilometers stood in the way of quick visits with friends.   
Still, the two demigod camps had set up a sort of exchange system between them, to build trust and understanding, while also giving the kids more extended family to visit. Most went by air, thanks to Butch, but Nico, Hazel, Percy and Annabeth were keen to find underground, if not shadow-travel, ways of spanning the vastness of land between New York and California. Percy in particular was hoping for some secret underground waterway, and was not discouraged by being told repeatedly that he was, in fact, an idiot.   
The process was slow going, no matter which travel way they did it, even if they didn't get attacked by some beasties on the way there, so while visits were often and appreciated by all friends, no one could afford to stay for long. They still had their own camps to attend to. Camp Half Blood in particular was building up, expanding for their own campers, while New Rome was rebuilding, and expanding for the Greek visitors.  
They still simply couldn't afford to stay long in one place.  
  
Nico had the easier time of it, his only real limit being his own strength which had wildly improved over the year. He came to New Rome himself fairly often, to see Hazel, and to let them know what progress there had been in regards to finding Leo on the Greek front. This, sadly, generally meant there was nothing to report. There was a few rumors; monsters mentioning something about the _Gaea Killer_ , or seeing fire out in the middle of the ocean, but all in all it didn't lead to much. There had been a few search parties, but they all led to more dead ends. 

What little news there was, was about Festus more often than not. Attempts to repair him, anyway.   
It had taken Cabin 9 (mostly Leo, truthfully), many long months to build an entire flying ship.   
It was taking them more than a year to repair small amounts of damage on Festus. Simply because Festus did not want anyone but Leo repairing him.  
It was sad in a way, a pet..or maybe even a child's devotion, but if they were to rescue his master..they needed to fix Festus. Festus' astrolabe was maybe the only thing on this planet that could help them find Ogygia, but they couldn't do that when he kept trying to cook Leo's siblings, and anyone else that got close enough. It took awhile, and a few burns, but soon enough Festus had become fonder of Nyssa in particular. He tolerated Jake on the best of days. He would have fried Will Solace more than once while the boy was trying to heal the Hephaestus kids, if not for Lou Ellen stepping in and saving him with a bit of magic. Nico didn't have any skills when it came to engineering really, but there was a gleam in his eyes and an itch in his fingers when he looked at mechanical bronze dragon. Festus did not return the intrigue, and if not for shadow travel, Nico would have been scorched more than once by now.  
  
Festus did of course quite like Piper and Jason, but they would be no help when it came to fixing the dragon, and neither was around much either.   
Jason fit into both camps as well as he didn't, and Piper was more than happy to go on another adventure. Percy and Annabeth were looking forward to a life of settling down, but Piper and Jason couldn't really imagine such a thing. Calypso ended up joining them, while she wasn't a half blood, it seemed more fitting to have three in a party than just two. (And, in all honesty, Piper and Jason weren't really sure what to do with themselves, without their best friend there anymore.)

Calypso had, at first, thought about staying at Camp Half Blood, and then considered coming to New Rome. After some time, she realized neither camp would be of much use to her. She kept to her own quite often when she was in camp, only talking occasionally to a handful of people. She appreciated those in the Hephaestus Cabin, and the Hecate Cabin. She got on well with Rachel Elizabeth Dare, and surprisingly seemed to get along with Drew. But, more often than not, those few people she spoke to most often were Percy, Jason, Annabeth and Piper.   
She hadn't been to New Rome much, and seemed to have a bit of Ancient Greek bias when it came to the camp. She didn't say much, but looked down her nose at more than one Faun. Admittedly, the Roman camp wasn't sure how thrilled they were with the daughter of a Titan milling about.  
So, when she heard of Jason's plans to move around, contacting Gods and creating new shrines to them, Calypso realized it was the best chance she'd have of any new information of Leo, as well as learning more about the world as it was now.   
It wasn't that she didn't trust the others in their own search parties, but when it came to demigods, Calypso didn't have much faith in happy endings.  
She could go it alone if need be, Calypso had said a few times in passing, but never made any moves to suggest she'd actually do so.   
  
Hazel really never knew what to think of Calypso.   
She, in some ways, reminded Hazel a bit of Reyna..Other times, Nico. But, in some instances, watching the girl spin things absentmindedly with magic, Hazel realized Calypso reminded her of Leo.   
Hazel had to ask herself, had there been a time, before being trapped on Ogygia, that Calypso was as free spirited..as quirky..as silly as Leo? Did her solemness come from personality, age, or isolation? It was not a topic easily approachable with the other girl, so Hazel's thoughts were kept to herself.  
  
Calypso never really stated outright what her relationship with Leo was; though Hazel figured Leo had a crush on the caramel haired girl, Calypso on the other hand never said much about it. If asked, she'd give rather cryptic responses, if she responded at all. But, her dedication to finding Leo seemed to tell Hazel that Calypso was at the very least quite fond of him.   
In some ways, Hazel was a bit jealous. She knew it was petty. Obviously they didn't own Leo, but Hazel still would rather _they_ be the ones to find him, rather than _her_.   
And Hazel was pretty sure Calypso knew it too, though she never said anything, Calypso generally kept a reasonable distance from Hazel in particular.   
Hazel knew it was silly, and didn't want pettiness to get in the way of her own life, but she still resisted asking Calypso for help when it came to using the mist and other forms of magic.   
..Not that Calypso had offered, to anyone, and there were definitely Hecate kids who thought they could benefit from a woman who had known both Hecate and Circe personally. Calypso seemed more inclined to let them work things out for themselves, or maybe she was just amused by the occasional explosion of green miasma that would come from the Hecate cabin.   
  
One day, late in the year, Hazel realized she had actually known Calypso longer than she had known Leo.   
It stung.   
She mentioned this to Frank one evening over dinner, he stopped eating in the middle of his meal and didn't return to it.  
  
It seemed strange. It felt like she had known Leo for years. While she couldn't deny the possibility, Hazel didn't think it was simply due to his resemblance to Sammy. These days, she might see someone and think, 'he looks a little bit like Leo', rather than thinking they looked like Sammy.  
In fact, it had been quite awhile since she had thought of her old boyfriend, a fact she was almost guilty to admit.   
Frank, on the other hand, had never met Sammy, only ever having known Leo; and while they didn't get on well at first, it didn't take long to develop a deep friendship. One that was different than, say his friendship with Percy, who he had also been on missions with.   
Frank had attested once, with a shrug, that it just felt like he had known Leo longer.  
  


Hazel just knew they were connected, somehow.   
She thought it was fate, _The_ Fates, that they would be the ones to save him. It wouldn't be Calypso, it wouldn't be Jason or Piper, or even Annabeth and Percy.   
Their faces would be the first ones he saw. They would be the reason he was back, with all of them.  
  
Hazel said as much to Frank and he smiled a bit oddly.  
“Well, he'd be in Camp Half Blood, wouldn't he? Not New Rome. I doubt we'd see him all that often..”   
“No, we would,” she had said. That was the end of that conversation.   
What Hazel said, went. Praetor or not, Frank knew when to stop talking.

-

“I don't know when his birthday was.” Hazel blurted out, at dinner.   
Frank looked up at her, then down at his meal sadly. It was going to get cold, if they went down this road.   
“Hazel,” Frank started.  
“It's been over a year, Frank. He'd be 16..17 now, wouldn't he?”  
“Probably,” Frank sighed. “But, he's probably immortal now..isn't he? That's how the island works, right? Given what Calypso has told us...He'd still be 15.”

“The same age as when he died,” Hazel added unhappily. Frank reached across the table and grabbed her hand, she squeezed back.  
“We'll throw him a huge party. We won't really have an option in it, everyone will join in. He'll feel like he never missed a thing.”

 

But, another year passed.

And another.

_And another._   
  
Things changed, so much so.   
Egyptians, the Kane's. The Norse, the ..Chases' again (that one got confusing.)  
There were hints of something happening in South American, as well as in China, but those roads weren't well paved yet and seemed a long ways off.   
  
Jason was so up to his armpits in deities, he didn't think his work would ever be done. Not that it mattered, he and Piper were enjoying their time out on the road.   
  
Calypso had split off after a few years, she met the Hunters, and the Amazons through the hunters.   
She didn't have to stay with Jason and Piper much to get information, though she still visited. Calypso had a wide world, a wider world now that their were new Demigods and Magicians in the world.  
Calypso was particularly intrigued by the Egyptian forms of magic, though reportedly stayed far away from the Kane's, saying Sadie Kane reminded her, 'a bit of Leo, and it was all rather disconcerting.'   
She still came back to Camp Half Blood, the Greek's being the closest thing to her original home.   
She also had a girlfriend now, after all. That was a bit of a surprise to everyone.   
  
But it just told them how truly long it had been since Leo had vanished. Four years. Frank was 20, Hazel was 18.   
Most of their friends were in college now, or working. Camp Half Blood had expanded enough to support far more year round residents, an actual..but small permanent community. They didn't exactly have their own college yet, but they had a sort of satellite school out of New Rome.  
  
It had been long enough, no one held out much hope of finding Leo anymore.   
He was more of a legend now, like the golden fleece had been.  
There was a new group of campers, a younger generation living their own lives, ones who weren't around for the war with Gaea _or_ for Leo. Kid's in the Hephaestus cabin still spoke hopefully about finding their long lost half brother, but it the search parties had mostly ceased.   
Annabeth, having taken over a good deal of Camp Half Blood oversight was reluctant to send out more, and in all honesty no one could blame her. Hazel got the impression even Jason and Piper had lost a lot of their hope.  
  
Hazel hadn't, and she didn't think Frank had; though he had a hard time of convincing any Romans to go out and actively look for the boy, possessed or not, who single handedly destroyed a good portion of New Rome.

-

“Piper didn't know,” Hazel said softly, her head resting on Frank's shoulder. He lifted his head off of his pillow to look at his girlfriend.

“Piper didn't know when he birthday was either.”   
  
Frank pulled her closer.  
“Well, then..Today is as good as any, right? So....uh..happy birthday, Leo.” Frank said, his voice more a croak.   
He could feel Hazel's tears hit his bare chest, and wasn't about to stop her.

 

\---

 

Leo stared at the markings on the wall.   
  
At first, he had marked the days.   
  
Then, when he began to run out of room, he began to mark the weeks.  
  
And then the months.  
  


Now, he had begun marking the years.   
  
Leo was just pretty fucking pissed off about it. 

  
He was supposed to be 18, half a year from 19.   
...And yet he still looked 15. How was that fair?  
This was like the absolute worst age to be stuck at. Smack dab in the middle of puberty.

Festus Jr. grumbled at Leo's side, while Dum-EE whirled in the corner. 

“I know, boy. I know.” Leo reached down to scratch FJ behind the mechanical ear.

  
The scrolls Leo had found a few years ago, a tip from a ghost who hadn't reappeared since, were the key to creating a system to power his creations. 

Dum-EE was the first successful attempt (and in honor of Leo's _Lord and Savior, Tony Stark)_ was named after the robot from the Iron Man Marvel franchise, Dum-E.   
The extra E on Dum-EE stood for Extra E.   
Leo thought it was funny, anyway.   
  
By now, Leo had nearly exhausted what had initially felt like an endless supply of bronze and gold.  
  
It had definitely been years, and slow going ones at that.   
His first year on the island was all about practicing magic, and surveying the island.  
  
Oh, and trying not to die. Leo was not 100% certain he _could_ die, if the island granted true immortality or simply just kept him the same age, but it wasn't something he was eager to test.  
  
There were monsters in these here waters, but their numbers had dwindled drastically from his first days. Leo had burned enough, literally, that they weren't keen on coming back.   
In the back of his mind, Leo was hoping one of them nasties might happen to mention where he was, or even just that he was still alive, to one of his friends... but ..well, he was pretty low on hope supplies now too.   
  
The other part of not dying included finding food.   
That one took Leo more by surprise his first days here, because it had been some time since he went without meals. It wasn't rare when he was in foster care, running away frequently. Even then, he could always..just..steal something to eat. Bag of chips, whatever.   
But he was on an island now. A deserted island. There were absolutely no 7/11's, and yes, he checked.  
  
Calypso, very thankfully, had a garden full of things. Not so thankfully, Leo knew nothing about gardens or plants.  
But, Calypso was smart, brilliant really, and had a spell on the garden so that it would never wither and the food would replace itself instantly. Leo didn't know how to prepare a lot of it, but he did know how to grill and boil corn...so...he ate a lot of corn and coconuts for a few days. Oh, and olives and grapes. Calypso was indeed Greek, so there was a buttload of olives and grapes around that were always in supply and perfectly ripe. She had expanded though, since ancient days, otherwise American native Corn, squash and other plants wouldn't have been present. Leo had wondered if the crashed ships scattered across Ogygia's shores and rocky outcrops were where Calypso had gotten the foreign seeds.   
There were different sorts of fruit and nut trees Leo had fun discovering, scattered throughout Ogygia. Berries. Beans and Peas were the next thing he made use of, beans and spices managing to make a pretty tolerable non-Texan type of Chili. More recipes came as he got braver, but there were still a few foods he couldn't make hide nor hair of. Eggplant, _no idea_ what he was supposed to do with eggplant.  
  
  
Then, came fishing.   
He wasn't so successful there, with the spears and the stabbing, but casting a wide net worked well enough. Leo eventually got not terrible at using a fishing pole, but by that time he had already created enough little robots to do his dirty work for him.   
  
Those little robots were the next big step, after getting his magic up to where he hoped it should be, then came the building.   
Well, he _was_ Leo, so he had already fiddled around with designs beforehand. He made a few really basic pulleys and levers types of things that were dreadfully boring after having ridden on a mechanical dragon.

In all honesty, the first year alone was a lot like his time building the Argo II. Cabin 9 had helped some, with some supplies and smaller things from camp, but for the most part Leo had been entirely alone in Bunker 9... for months and months..just building and building until he thought he'd die.   
I guess, in the end, he had.   
  
Often times, finding the metals and supplies for his creations was a bit grim.   
Many of the shipwrecks still had passengers, who had long since past. There were a few newer crash sites that Leo walked into, then immediately ran back out of to wretch off the side and into the ocean. Day sun, ocean, and corpses were not a great combination.   
Thankfully, the vast majority were old and cold. If he found anything, they were just sun bleached bones still resting in their last resting spot. Leo almost felt a bit bad stealing their metals and other equipment...but, he was living in the past enough as it was.   
  
  
Now, Leo could have been bashful and said that building his robotic horde took a very long time...  
..Yeah, no. Nope, it most certainly did not. This was where Leo was strongest.  
  
It was the magic that took the longest. Longest to learn, longest to figure out how to use as a power source in his babies..er, _creations_.   
Dum-EE was built in under a week, but it took another number of months of tweaking and rebuilding a core to store his own personal source of power inside.   
Dum-EE was a pretty basic thing, really. Though Leo upgraded him over time, he started out as basically a few wheels, and a boxy little body.  
Now, he was more like the horrific lovechild of R2D2, and the actual namesake Dum-E.   
It rolled, it swung, it chirped and squawked at him. It teetered to it's side, sometimes falling over itself, sometimes flinging crabs out of the way so it could easier catch up to it's father.  
Leo loved it so, even though it was so very, _very_ stupid looking.  
  
Those were the early days.  
  
Now? Leo had scouts all over the island. Not just his everyday sort of robot horde.  
Ones that had been exploring every inch of what there was to Ogygia. Sure, some retrieved food for him, but the vast amount had a very specific purpose of trying to find Leo a way out.  
Not just the island was to be searched, but the skies and the seas. Leo was looking for any weak point, and while he hadn't found one yet...He wasn't going to give up either.   
He didn't really have a choice in that matter.   
Leo wasn't fully taking on Calypso's role here, there would not be any new lost sailors or heroes washing up on Ogygia shores. Leo would be the only human, for however long he stayed. 

Festus Jr, in light of that, was always more about having a companion than a tool, if Leo was being honest with himself.   
Which he had to do now far more often than he'd like.   
FJ was smaller than Festus, and could probably only carry 2 average weighted adults. Leo, was neither average weight, nor an adult..so it wasn't really a problem.   
FJ was a bit sleeker though, than his big brother, and was built for speed.   
Leo liked to think of him as..sort of.. half snake, and half panther. Festus Jr was designed to look more like an Aztec feathered serpent, rather than anything Greek or otherwise European. Leo wanted, in some small way, to honor his mothers heritage as well.   
And damned if FJ wasn't a pretty good tribute. In flight, or on land, FJ's speed could challenge probably everyone besides Hazel's steed.   
  
And, unlike Festus, this dragon didn't run off of control panels, chips and wiring.   
  


The magic, Leo had discovered, was the same secret as what was behind Calypso's inanimate objects moving by themselves.   
They could only ever be turned off by her will, or her death.   
Leo's magic was different than Calypso's though, and burned like his fire.  
  
The magic often took the form of his fire, and was better for some tasks than others.   
  
Weaving?

Didn't work so great.   
Leo ended up with a lot of burnt bedsheets. Pretty much anything that wasn't fireproof was no longer in existence, and Leo had found ways to burn bright enough even the fireproof spells had a hard time defending.  
Leo ended up having to take some of the clothing Calypso had left behind and mutilate them by hand so he had something to wear besides the tattered remains of the outfit he arrived on the island in.   
He had been hoping to wear bedsheets rather than dresses, but he had quite literally burned that road. His magic wasn't always the softest touch.  
  


Powering awesome fucking robots, on the other hand?   
  
Leo still excelled at working with his beloved inorganic materials, and his magic felt much the same way.   
  
Inside Festus Jr. was a core, a lantern of Leo's magic. It stayed lit, without Leo having to do anything. It was a part of Leo, really.   
It could only ever be extinguished in the case of his death, which hadn't happened in years.

It turned out, Leo never got a good grip on the Mist, something that was viewed by most magicians as fairly basic. Small feats were expected, though anything on the level Hazel could deliver was still amazing, from what Leo could tell from the texts he had access to. 

Even small feats, usually ended a bit explode-y for Leo.   
Leo could use smoke to conceal things, but Mist was out of the question, and smoke was unfortunately fairly noticeable.   
Yes, Leo was an elaborate living smoke bomb, when it came to using the Mist.   
  


Yet Leo's grasp over his own fire talents had been hugely improved by learning magic, which was definitely a good thing. No more little mishaps like his ears or feet bursting into flames when he got excited. Great news for his completely nonexistent sex life.  
  
He could make things now, he could make life just out of fire and light.   
It wasn't that uncommon for Leo to create a creature purely made of flames for Festus Jr, or the other bots to chase after and play with. Leo didn't usually have them last forever, letting the little things flicker in and out of reality like wisps.

Leo could also easily create his own lighting now, without ever having to rely on the oil lamps and candles in the cave. Since he wasn't entirely certain what all of them were there for, this was probably a good thing. Now, if he needed it, a miniature sun followed Leo around in the dark, bobbing around him and flitting off when need ceased.

 

He tried flying once, using his flames to propel him. Firebender style. It didn't end well. The mountain didn't appreciate his face in it, and Leo's face wasn't wild about the mountain either.

 

Leo thought, maybe most importantly, his magic gave him a way to come to terms with his own fears and insecurities.  
  
He may have still looked 15, but Leo knew he was older. Wiser? Maybe not, but hopefully.  
  
 Not long after arriving on the Ogygia, Leo had been plagued by thoughts of his own death, and hell he thought he had been plagued by them before he had even died. It was nothing compared to the nightmares though; the ones where he could still see Jason and Piper, and the rest of Camp Half Blood, as his skin burnt and the fluids boiled themselves out of his body. Often times, in those dreams, as he tried to escape the pain, Leo would look down to see not his own form, but that of his mother. They both burned to death; and at the time, Leo thought at the very least, _he_ had deserved it.  
Gaea had _nothing_ on what Leo could do to himself. No deities need be involved for this particular form of self deprecation.   
But those nightmares had ceased. Leo wasn't that boy anymore. He was stronger, and more certain of his own place.   
  
Occasionally, he felt lonely. It was hard not to on Ogygia, but it wasn't the same fears he had as a boy..sleeping in abandoned cars, broken down homes and buildings. Sewers even.   
He didn't feel abandoned anymore, even when alone.   
Meeting Jason, and Piper, Cabin 9 and everyone else...it had helped Leo feel less alone back then, but as soon as they started doing their own things, or even if Leo secluded himself, he'd begin to feel worthless again. _The 7 th wheel_. The appeal of Ogygia, and Calypso, was the thought he'd get a girlfriend...as though he'd now be on equal footing with his friends. He knew then, in the back of his mind, that was wrong, but he couldn't see a way out from under without props. What worth did he have, apart from jokes and machines?   
But now, those thoughts didn't worry him, not in the same way. He had been alone so long as a kid, he didn't know how how to view himself apart from the assurances of others, but he knew better now. Leo actually liked himself now, most of the time.   
Not abandoned, while alone. It was a good state of mind to be at, at least for him.   
It was progress, anyway. It made him all the more eager to see his friends again, where ever their lives may be now.

 

Leo found he _did_   greatly miss music though.  
He found a few cassette tapes in a couple pieces of wrecked ship luggage, but he wasn't about to listen to 1960's Romanian Disco music.   
Leo didn't hate himself that much. That, and the first time he checked it out to see what it was, Dum-EE rolled up and smashed it into a million pieces. Leo didn't really blame him.

 

\---   
  
Artemis glanced up at her brother, who was steadfastly still trying to make a box of some sort make noise that didn't sound like a dying weasel.   
  
“Apollo, cease.” She ordered sharply. He snapped his head up and glowered.  
  
“It worked for him, even if it was a _trick_. I should be able to find out how it functions. I'm a _God_.”

Artemis rolled her eyes, _men_.   
“Valdez? Yes, my hunters are looking for him. If you helped, maybe he'd be able to explain it for you.”   
  
“They won't find him.”

Artemis paused from sharpening her arrows, and looked up slowly at her twin.  
“Why not?” Her voice was cold, and Apollo froze.  
  
“I-..it just seems unlikely?”

He flinched, barely noticeably, as Artemis stood.   
“Apollo. Should I raise my suspicions of you, to Father? It seems like you were, almost just yesterday, released from your _last_ punishment.”

His hands tightened around the crank, and the sun God refused to meet her eyes. The world flashed silver around them, Artemis' influence making the moon seem nearly brighter than the sun, and animals of the forest seemed to glare accusingly with her.

“ _ **Ἀπόλλων.** _ ”  
  
Apollo, at the sound of his true name, vanished into thin air.  
  
Artemis sighed, she needed to contact her hunters. Thalia, in particular.   
  
Thalia, in some ways, reminded Artemis of herself. They were both fierce, and dangerous women who were not to be trifled with.  
They both had troublesome blond little brothers, but at least in Thalia's case...Her brother wasn't a  _ complete _ idiot.

 


	4. Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He's back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which I update for the first time since January, and make a lot of movie references.
> 
> (I'm not going to go into a lot of detail here, but a few months I was working on a writing project which will be published later this year, followed by summer which..I farm, so summer and late spring are kind of active months for me. And, July has been a REALLY hard month for me..emotionally and physically..I lost and pet and almost ended up in the ER.and just other little things. Anyway, I don't mean to ramble or complain but I'd ask that people understand that life does get in the way.)
> 
> This will be much more of a shorter chapter, but I do have more written..I'm hoping having more prewritten will make me update again a bit sooner.

Jason, Piper and Nico were having lunch in the high forests of the southern Cascades in the shadow of Mt. Shasta, when Thalia and her company showed up. Nico's good mood instantly vanished upon seeing the Hunters of Artemis, though Jason was pleased enough to see his sister.   
It was a bit strange, having surpassed her age of appearance, though Jason understood that would not be a feeling that would ever leave. Thalia however, would always treat Jason as her baby brother, likely until the day he died.  
  
“We've got news,” Thalia greeted Jason and Piper with hugs, and a nod to Nico. “Artemis sent us with information, so I'm inclined to believe her.”   
  
“What sort of news, good or world end-y?” Piper asked, figuring she knew which was ultimately more likely. Though after the third apocalyptic event, the idea lost some originality.  
  
“Well, normally I'd say to sit down first,” Thalia gestured towards the forest floor. “I'm not going to cut corners here. It's Leo related,” Thalia said, and the trios backs went rigid in attention.

“Artemis said she has good reason to believe Apollo is in some way responsible for Leo's disappearance. Normally I don't think she'd be concerned with the matters of a male demigod, but this is more an inter-family..inter-political issue. That Apollo would lie, and hide away something from Artemis even..well, she isn't pleased. He seemed to have had a grudge against Leo for..some..music related incident? I don't know the details, but Artemis said that while she tracks him down...that demigod children of Apollo may have more luck in trying to contact him. Apollo isn't the worst Godly parent out there.” Thalia added the last part with a bit of a sour look on her face.  
  
Piper sighed, shaking her head “Of all the bull that Leo pulled, of course that would be the thing that would come back to haunt him the most..unbelievable.”  
  
“Nico, looks like you have a boyfriend to call.” Jason said, tone joking but expression serious.   
  
Nico sighed, knowing Will had been busy lately and would likely still be exhausted from school and work, but this wasn't a situation they could just ignore. All Nico could do for his boyfriend was try and buy him an extra day off, knowing his sister would probably skin him if Nico didn't tell her what was going on in the world of Valdez.   
  
“To New Rome then? I'm sure Frank and Hazel will want to know, and I'll talk to Reyna about how to progress with the Roman Apollo kids too.” Nico offered, shadows stretching and growing towards them like tree limbs.  
  
Nico hadn't given up looking for Leo, not with Hazel around. But..actively searching? Less so. He hadn't had the chance to really get to know Leo very well, they didn't talk much on the Argo, and the times they did..it was a bit of a strained relationship. Jason and Piper definitely still missed Leo, more than anyone probably, but they were more the same thought process of Nico, that if news arose they would search...but if nothing new came their way..there wasn't much they could do about it.   
Hazel and Frank on the other hand...They seemed to be the only people still actively looking, and quite intent about it..and Nico, for the life of him, had no clue as to why. Maybe it was because both had their own history with being not quite dead.  
But it didn't matter right now, at least.

 

“Good luck, kiddos.” Thalia grinned, her and her sisters waving goodbye as the three vanished into darkness.  
  
\---   
  
  


The chase was long, and without his demigod children, may have been longer. But it ended, it ended with Apollo staring up the length of an arrow aimed at his face. The hunters of Artemis were gathered around, watching, for the most part amused. The daughter of Zeus had a blank expression, which was far more worrisome.  
  
“Artemis, please. You have to understand. He tricked me!” Apollo pleaded, hoping Artemis would realize his side of things. It wasn't the first mortal or demigod they had brought their wrath upon, why was Leo Valdez any different? Just because he _helped_ stop Gaea?   
  


Artemis' gaze didn't falter.  
  
“You have to understand, please. Sister, ple-”  
  
“You fail to understand why I am displeased, Apollo. Unfortunate. You _will_ release the boy,” Artemis cut in with her order. Apollo swallowed hard, fist clenching. He had lost, but maybe Artemis would see reason on another issue.  
  
“You.. won't tell Father? Will you?”  
  
“No, of course not.” Artemis stated, as though the idea was absurd. She had made a point of making sure none of the demigods, apart of Apollo's children, contacted their parents on the issue. It was not their place to take part in Apollo's punishment.

No, Artemis wasn't counting on anything of the sort, nor was she about to tell Zeus.

The boy, Jason.. Artemis smiled. Jason would tell Hera.

That was would be a far worse fate.

 

\----

 

Something strange had happened, Leo realized as he looked on over the horizon. The air had changed, he thought. Everything stayed the same on Ogygia, and the seasons were one of them. The temperature was never any different than the day before.

But now, Leo felt a breeze coming over the ocean. One he'd never felt before.

Then, a meter began to beep in his pocket. Leo dug it out, and stared down at the screen.  
One of his robots had moved further than it had before. Beyond the boundary of Ogygia. Who knew why, why's and how's could wait.

Leo grinned, and looked towards FJ.

“Let's go meet your big brother.”

The shards of gold on Festus Jr's frilled back shook in excitement.

 

Leo looked back towards the cave he had been living in, for the last 4 years... He understand Calypso's initial reluctance to leave. It had been a home, even though he hadn't wanted it to be.

But now, it was time to go. Leo had probably more experience leaving places than Calypso had.

So he walked back into the cave, and packed up what all he could. What all he thought he might need.

 

Leo took Dum-EE and connected him to FJ, as a second little look out. Kind of like R2D2, Leo had thought when he designed it. Gods, he was such a nerd.

Now, though, Leo was wondering what movies he had missed. It was, what? 2014 now? Something like that. If time had moved similarly at all, anyway. That was a concern Leo didn't want to spend a lot of time worrying about.

 

Festus Jr was running in circles, spitting out blue flames in excitement once Leo had gotten everything situated on his back.

Then Leo climbed on his back, and fastened himself on.

Not taking chances, this time around. Leo was pretty tired of getting knocked out of the sky. One time was more than enough, and Leo had enough times on his punch card to get a free drink.

 

FJ was in the air in a heartbeat, pumping long and powerful golden wings.

Leo created a small, bright light, in the shape of another tiny dragon. It spiraled around his hand, and head a few times, before Leo directed off.

“Follow the L5 marker,” he said and it shot off. Behind it, small little lights appeared in the sky, lighting the way like will-o'-the-wisp.  
Leo reached forward and patted FJ on the side of the head.

“Let's go buddy. Follow the yellow brick road.”

  
\--  
  


It was nearing Christmas, and this year they were celebrating in New Rome. It wasn't as though they exactly celebrated it, they more celebrated..the celebration itself.

Frank was happy because Hazel was happy, and Hazel was happy because Nico was with them. Nico wasn't happy, because Percy had forced him to wear a reindeer sweater. Nico was only happy when he forced everyone else around him to wear light up antlers. Frank was less happy about that. Reyna flat out refused. Hylla nearly stabbed the Italian boy, until Calypso and Will stepped in to stop her.

Jason patted Nico on the shoulder, and both he and Piper slipped on the antlers, because they were secretly angels in disguise and could apparently do no wrong. Besides Jason's glasses, which were still hideous.

Thalia and a few of the other huntresses showed up, veterans of Camp Half Blood being happy to see them again.  
  
It had been a number of months since the news of Apollo's imprisonment of Leo was made known, and while it was still horrible to know Leo really was out there and they couldn't reach him yet...At least they knew he _was_ out there. Part of this Christmas was to exchange information, but really, to prepare for Leo's eventual freedom. Calypso had worked with a number of people, trying to make sure they were set up to really handle the realities of bringing Leo back. Not just the difficulties of finding Ogygia, but knowing Leo would likely be less than well adjusted coming back.   
But, things were still hopeful, and that was reason enough to be joyful.

 

Then, while they were all sat at a big noisy happy dinner, something happened.

Hazel froze, and raised a hand to her head.  
  


“I feel weird.”  
  


Everyone stopped what they were doing.  
  


“Are you pregnant?” Percy asked around a bite of turkey leg.  
  
“No, I felt it too.” Nico added. Percy turned to look at him and furrowed his brows.  
  


“..Are  _ you _ pregnant?” A skeleton hit him firmly in the gut, and Percy ended up coughing up turkey chunks onto the table. Annabeth and Grover moved their own plates away. 

  
In the fountain at the end of the table, something shimmered before the face of a girl appeared. An Iris message.

“Emory?” Thalia asked, leaning forward to look at the other huntress.   
  
“Thalia! Our Mistress has a message for your friends!” The girl looked excited, a bit bubbly.  
  
“And what is it?” Frank cut in, using his best Praetor voice.

Another girl pushed her way into the image, and the first girl and her began struggling slightly in front of them.   
“Girls.” Thalia said, sounding as though this wasn't a strange occurrence.

“Oh, um. She said-”

“Ogygia's curse has been released!” The newer girl yelled over the first. Emory elbowed the other girl from vision.

“Artemis said Leo Valdez is found, alive, and free!”

No one spoke for a moment. And then it was chaos. Everyone was speaking at once.

“Shut up!” Hazel yelled, and everyone shut up.

“Where is he?” Calypso leaned forward, eyes big with worry.

 

The girl exchanged a look with the other, and mumbles were heard.

“Um, we don't know exactly? Somewhere off of the east coast? It sounds like, uh. Yeah. Ogygia was hidden near the Bermuda triangle.”  
  


It sounded like someone or someones at the table, under their breath muttered, ' _fuck that place_.'  
  


“So, we think he'll probably go to Camp Half Blood? We're not certain if he's on foot or not..or..if he's even on land” The huntress added, looking a bit unsure.  
  


“Thank you, Emory, Matty.” Thalia said softly, and the girls nodded and the message ended.

Hazel stood up, and looked to Nico. Nico sighed, understanding what needed to be done.

“Alright, who wants to shadow travel back to camp? We can send out teams from there to search the Eastern seaboard.”  
  


Virtually everyone stood up, with the exception of Reyna, Hylla, and Thalia.   
  


“Nico, I'm sorry, but-” Hazel started, turning big eyes towards her brother who winced at the look.  
  
“Don't. The eyes. Just- it's fine. I understand. It shouldn't be too bad. I'm not a child anymore,” Nico smiled crookedly. His powers had vastly grown, but it'd still be a draining journey with this many people.

He grabbed her hand, and everyone else who was coming grabbed onto one another. Reyna extinguished the lights around them, to create shadows, to which Nico smiled at her for.   
  
“Safe travels,” Reyna wished them.

 

Then they were gone.

 

The first thing they heard upon arriving back at camp, was Clarisse cursing like a sailor.

They had apparently landed on a dining table. The kids at camp all jumped back, and a few nymphs gave them bad looks, like 'it's always them isn't it?'  
As their odd group jumped off the table, and apologized, people came running towards them.  
Jake and Nyssa.

“Is he here?!” Jason yelled, jogging up to greet them.

“Is who here?” Jake asked in confusion.

“No time!” Nyssa yelped and slapped Jake in the face. “Festus went crazy!” She added, the fear in her voice evident.   
“I was checking in on him, like always, and he just started freaking out. Roaring and..oh, the fire. He almost killed Jake!” She squeaked. Jake nodded quickly, and pointed to the spot on his head where the hair was slightly shorter.  
  
“Then, he just went galloping away. I don't know where he went-”  
  
Frank stepped in and held up a hand, it might not be his camp, but he was easily half a foot taller than everyone else here. He had a commanding presence to say the least.  
“Leo's back.”

Nyssa and Jake opened and closed their mouths a few times.

“W-what?”  
  
“The curse was lifted, Leo's coming back.” Jason added, gripping Pipers hand tightly.  
  
“That's why,” Piper added, “-that's why Festus is acting up. He must know Leo is close.”   


Nyssa started to cry, and reached for her brother. Jake, however, looked a little pissed off.  
  
“I've been looking after that hunk of metal for nearly 4 years! _4 years_! He almost kills me because-”  
  
Calypso began to glow an acidic green and Jake promptly shut up. 

“Sorry, ma'am.”   
  
“You should be.” She said curtly, before stopping to listen for Festus' roars. “We should go to him. Piper and I should at least be able to calm him, somewhat.”

  
“We'll go get Chiron and Rachel then,” Nyssa said, grabbing Jake's shirt and tugging him along before he had a chance to complain more. Though they still thought they heard a whimpering, '4 years' echo in the nightsky.

“Percy and I should go talk to the search teams, just in case.” Annabeth said, looking thoughtful.   
  
“Nico needs to sit, and not be standing.” Will said, Nico shook his head though looked a bit drowsy. “I don't.”  
  
“Shut up Di Angelo,” Clarisse ordered, ignoring Nico's huffs of displeasure while Will looked relieved. “We'll handle the campers here, go check the metal lizard.”

“Well then, let's go.” Piper said, and they went.

When they reached Festus, something bright was twirling around his head, and Festus kept doing his very best to snap at it.

“What is that?”Piper asked, brows furrowed.  
  
Calypso began to laugh, and everyone turned to her, and a few inched back just slightly. Calypso laughing was not a common thing. And it was kind of scary.  
“It's  _ magic _ .” She didn't explain more, but her eyes were alight in a way that meant they'd find out soon.

 

It seemed like they sat, and waited for an hour or better. They watched Festus romp after what appeared to be a little firey dragon. The two seemed to almost be playing, but it didn't go unnoticed by anyone there seemed to be a trail of small lights leading straight to camp, that were coming off the little bright thing.   
  
And then Festus stopped, and looked up at the sky, ruby eyes glowing brighter than ever. He roared once more, and let out a geyser of flames directly into the sky.  
  


A dim light appeared in the clouds, and another faint roar answered him.

 

Frank grabbed up Hazel to put her on his shoulders, and Piper and Jason started yelling and cheering. Percy and Annabeth had rejoined them by then, and really most of the camp had shown up at that point. Not just the campers, but the nymphs and the satyrs too. Tyson and Ella. Coach, Mellie, and their son and daughter.

 

 

And then the dragon dipped below the clouds.

 

\---

 

Leo was honestly just happy when he saw land that _wasn't_ Ogygia, but couldn't help his glee when he realized he was flying over Disney World. He had no idea where Ogygia's curse had been lifted exactly, but it had to be off the coast of Florida.   
Leo could get to Camp tonight.  __ Tonight.   
He'd be back home, after nearly 4 years. Sure, he still looked 15, but who the hell cared?! ...He did, he cared a little bit.    


Festus Jr. was fast enough that it was possible to reach home, but Leo had no idea what time of night it was now. Leo kind of hoped no one would be angry at him for waking them up in the middle of the night. But, he also mostly didn't give a shit  _ because he was almost home. _

Leo also tried pretty hard not to giggle like a schoolgirl, as FJ and him wooshed by a passenger plane, wondering what on earth the Mist made them look like. A rocket maybe? A UFO? 

Leo started to bounce in place, tapping in morse code on his legs, nervous energy building up in such a way that he hadn't felt in years. He _felt_ like he was 15 again. Dum-EE whirred and smacked him in the back of the head to put an end to it quickly enough.   
  


It wasn't long before Leo began to see the lights of New York city, and he knew he was _almost_ there. There was a fear, somewhere in the back of his mind, that this was some form of new sadistic punishment. That he'd just nearly get home, before getting thrown back into his prison. But, deep down, Leo knew this was different. Something felt different.   
  


And as Long Beach came into focus, Leo began to holler like mad.

When he drew ever closer to the docks of Camp Half Blood, still in quite a bit of cloud cover, Leo began to cry. He wasn't ashamed of it either. He didn't think anyone could be where he was, and make it out, and not cry.

When Leo heard Festus, and saw the glow below from his flames, he thought his heart was going to explode and the real water works started.

Festus Jr cocked his head to the side in curiosity, before roaring back in response. FJ too, breathed out a flame in reply, and Leo was thankfully fireproof enough that flying right through the heat didn't faze him any. No eyebrows was a look he probably wouldn't rock.  
  


When Leo began to hear the campers, shouting, screaming his name, he thought he'd lose it.

When they dropped below the cloud cover, and  _ saw _ them, he did lose it.

He whooped, and threw his hands up in the air, cheering.

“YEAH, BABY!”  
  
Dum-EE smacked him again for yelling, but he didn't care. Leo leaned forward, so far forward his seat-belt strained against his stomach. People came into focus, faces he recognized.

“I'M BACK!” Leo yelled, and the screams below heightened.

 

Then, they landed. Leo unbuckled, and fell face first onto the ground. Everyone stopped shouting at once. Leo pushed himself up, spat out a bit of grass, and stood.

So many faces. Familiar, ...and not. He really had been gone a long time.

“Hi,” Leo said dumbly, not really sure what to do.

It was like unleashing a tidal wave, and all of a sudden Leo found himself being grabbed and swung about and spoken to all at once.

It stopped as quickly as it started, and Leo looked up to meet eyes with Calypso. Words couldn't be spoken, there was a connection and an understanding that could never be fully explained to another.  
  


Leo was about to say something, try to anyway, but suddenly he was in the air again. Large hands were at his side, and Leo found himself spun around and then crushed into a Frank and Hazel embrace. He remembered this feeling, just before he died.  
  


“L-l _eeooo_ ,” Hazel sobbed.  
  
“Hazel,” Leo whimpered. “One of you is breaking a rib, as much as I love you guys.”  
  
Frank and Hazel pulled away, and suddenly he was getting patted down and looked over by both of them.  


“Are you okay?”- “Have you been eating? You're still too small.”- “When's your birthday?”-”Are you wearing a dress?”

Leo pushed himself backwards, only to find himself getting hauled into another group hug by Jason and Piper, who were both crying probably more than he was. Somehow, Piper's hug hurt worse than Frank's. The girl had guns. Jason was a bit more considerate, but didn't seem to want to let go either. 

“..Leo,” Piper paused, snuffling. “Are you wearing a dress?”

Leo froze, glowering. “Okay, I have been back for all of 3 seconds, can we hold off on the 'am I or aren't I wearing a dress' questions.”  
  
“Those are my clothes,” Calypso supplied helpfully. Man, what a greeting. He didn't expect anything less.

And then a knife was pointed at his neck, and Leo turned very slowly to look at who he guessed was Annabeth. 

She was older too..they were all older.   
  
“How do we prove you're actually Leo Valdez?” She asked.   
  


Hazel and, who was that..Nico? Leo thought with some astonishment, stepped forward to say they could tell he actually was Leo.

Leo held up a hand, to defend himself.  
  
“Frank turned into an iguana to get out of that finger trap.” He said, and the rest of the younger campers turned to look at one another in confusion. Was it some mystical code terminology between The Seven?  
Frank just blushed and frowned.  
  
Annabeth however, lowered her weapon.   
She smiled, “welcome home.”  
  
And then the flood waters broke free once again, and Leo stood there sobbing like a baby. For the next few minutes Leo was passed between his friends as they embraced him and acknowledged him. Nyssa, and the rest of Cabin 9 were next, and Leo never wanted to leave his family ever again.

“It's good to be home,” Leo laughed, wiping away the tears on his face.

It was really good to be home.

 

And so who could blame him when the first thing Leo did upon seeing Will Solace was sock him in the jaw.  
  


 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story I really could have left romanceless, but..I wanted more frazeleo....so..that's what's going to happen.  
> Obviously, that hasn't happened yet in this chapter, but..it shall come soon enough.  
> And, like the time honored tradition of authors, I am going to stick a romance into a story that really doesn't need it and just hope it works well enough that people don't hate me.
> 
> Most of the background relationships will stay canon to the series, and ambiguous relationships like Nico and Will won't be established at the beginning, but may be later into the story. There will also be a few completely non series canon relationships, like what I'm planning with Calypso (she get's herself a gal.)


End file.
